The Boggarts Meaning
by GryffindorTom
Summary: During the examination that Hermione was taken for her Third-Year Defence Against the Dark Arts study, she encountered a Boggart that has morphed into the shape of her head of year, Professor McGonagall. Why was Hermione scared of the Boggart?
1. Chapter 1

Title **The Boggarts Meaning / / /** Rating **M**

Chapter **01 - Facing The Facts**

Summary **During the examination that Hermione was taken for her Third-Year Defence Against the Dark Arts study, she encountered a** **Boggart that has morphed into the shape of her head of year, Professor McGonagall. Why was Hermione scared of the Boggart?**

Pairings **Harry/Hermione, Neville/Ginny**

Warnings **Features a character death** **, Ron bashing and some swearing.** **This story also contains some sex in later chapters…**

- **The Boggarts Meaning** -

 _ **Outside the Herbology Classroom, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **24th June 1994**_

It was the second to last exam for Harry, Hermione and Ron on Thursday morning and it was Harry's favourite subject, Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Their professor, Remus Lupin had compiled the most unusual exam any of them had ever taken; a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a boggart that he had persuaded the caretaker to acquire.

"Excellent, Harry," Lupin muttered as Harry climbed out of the trunk, grinning. "Full marks."

Flushed with his success, Harry hung around to watch Ron and Hermione. Ron did very well until he reached the hinkypunk, which successfully confused him into sinking waist-high into the quagmire. Hermione did everything perfectly until she reached the trunk with the boggart in it. After about a minute inside it, she burst out again, screaming.

"Hermione!" said Lupin, startled. "What's the matter?"

"P - P - Professor McGonagall!" Hermione gasped, pointing into the trunk. "Sh - she said I'd failed everything!"

Remus took the bushy haired girl away from the remainder of the third years in order to get her reasoning for why she had run away from the boggart.

"What do you mean when you said that professor McGonagall had told you that you had failed?"

"She…she told me that…Harry didn't love me as much as I love him." Hermione said, frowning.

Remus looked at the bushy haired girl and instantly knew what she meant, especially as he had seen her on several occasions make slight touches and similar, to his best friend's son on several occasions.

Remus had to laugh in a way at the thought of what was going through the mind of Hermione Granger, especially as Hermione reminded him of Lily Evans, headstrong yet unsure of herself

Resolving to solve the problem and to get his best mates son to realise what he had in front of him, Remus watched as Hermione left the examination area, Hermione being the final person to take his DADA test. Heading quickly through the corridors, he went to visit the office of Minerva McGonagall, his former Head of House when he was a student.

 _ **The Great Hall, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **24th June 1994**_

Professor McGonagall had just seen her prey, Harry Potter, her favourite student in Gryffindor House. Following her discussion with Remus Lupin, she could see from reviewing her Occlumency memories that Harry was close to Hermione, but not in a girlfriend/boyfriend position…yet.

She could tell, however, that unlike Harry's father James, Harry was more mature compared to the late James Potter, who would no soon as prank you as to look at you. Minerva could see that as she approached Harry, that he would look really nervous, looking as though he was in trouble for something.

"Follow me Mr Potter" Professor McGonagall said, escorting him to her office.

"Why Professor?" Harry said, confused as to why the Transfiguration Professor wanted him to follow her. "Why do you want me Professor? Have I done something wrong?"

"Not really Mr Potter, its just that Professor Lupin and I have noticed something that affects you and Miss Granger." McGonagall said, smiling. As they approached the front door, McGonagall said one thing that shocked Harry. "You and Miss Granger…you…you remind me of two people I have not seen in years,"

Harry looked shocked at the insinuation that the professor was making. In a way something that she was saying made sense to him as even though he was scared to say it, he was in love with Hermione Granger.

Entering the deputy heads office, Harry saw on the wall a trio of portraits. The first one, he did not recognise, despite the similarity between it and the second one, but the other two recognised instantly as being portraits of his parents.

"Mom...dad..." Harry whispered, shocked that he had saw a portrait of his parents. Harry would later come to admit that he would be having a discussion about things such as his relatives with the portraits of his parents. Little did he know that Hermione was going to be having a discussion with Remus Lupin

- **The Boggarts Meaning** -

 _Coming up in Chapter 2, Harry admits his feeling to Hermione, and a prophecy is made…_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Social Media** You can now like " **GryffindorTom** " on Facebook and Twitter to get all of the latest news, bits I'm working on, story updates and much more. You can also discuss this story and much, much more on Reddit - just navigate to r/ **GryffindorTomOfficial** on there.

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / **Status** WIP

 **Distribution** FFN, AO3, GryffindorTom Online

 **Story ID** 214 / **Publish Date** 26/12/2016


	2. Chapter 2

Title **The Boggarts Meaning / / /** Rating **M**

Warnings **Features a character death, Ron bashing and some swearing. This story also contains some sex in later chapters…**

 _Contains text from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban…_

- **The Boggarts Meaning** -

 _Previously on The Boggarts Meaning…_

 _"Not really Mr Potter, it's just that Professor Lupin and I have noticed something that affects you and Miss Granger." McGonagall said, smiling. As they approached the front door, McGonagall said one thing that shocked Harry. "You and Miss Granger…you…you remind me of two people I have not seen in years,"_

 _Harry looked shocked at the insinuation that the professor was making. In a way, something that she was saying made sense to him as even though he was scared to say it, he was in love with Hermione Granger._

 _Entering the deputy heads office, Harry saw on the wall a trio of portraits. The first one, he did not recognise, despite the similarity between it and the second one, but the other two recognised instantly as being portraits of his parents._

 _"Mom...dad..." Harry whispered, shocked that he had saw a portrait of his parents. Harry would later come to admit that he would be having a discussion about things such as his relatives with the portraits of his parents. Little did he know that Hermione was going to be having a discussion with Remus Lupin_

 _ **Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **25**_ _ **th**_ _ **June 1994**_

Remus Lupin had taken Hermione into the Classroom where he held the Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons, his intent being to discuss the elephant in the room regarding her and Harry.

Eventually their discussion had been completed, the two of them moving on to lighter things, such as how Hermione had done on her theory examination, how she had gotten 150% on her exam, but had been beaten out for second place, the only subject to which she was aware of, by Harry.

"It's something that his grandmother had excelled in according to what James had always told me." Remus told the bushy haired girl as she was confused by the result. "Potters have always excelled at Defence and Transfiguration."

Eventually Hermione left the room, her face completely in glee over what the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor had told her about Harry, how she had to admit now to Harry about her feeling for him were ones of love, of how she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life.

"What did Lupin want?" Ron asked, trying to be nosy. "Is it about your feelings for Harry?"

"Piss off Ron." Hermione said, slapping him. "Yes I am in love with Harry, and that is why I failed my exam! Now if you will excuse me, I will be back shortly as I want to find the person who is to become my boyfriend!"

 _ **The Courtyard, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **27**_ _ **th**_ _ **June 1994**_

Harry, Hermione and Ron had finished their Care of Magical Creatures examination when they bumped into the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who was sweating slightly in his pinstriped cloak, standing there staring out at the grounds. He smiled at the sight of Harry.

"Hello there, Harry!" he said. "Just had an exam, I expect? Nearly finished?"

"Yes," said Harry. Hermione and Ron, not being on speaking terms following another incident with Crookshanks and Stabbers, hovered awkwardly in the background.

"Lovely day," said Fudge, casting an eye over the lake. "Pity... pity..." He sighed deeply and looked down at Harry. "I'm here on an unpleasant mission, Harry. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of a mad hippogriff. As I needed to visit Hogwarts to check on the Black situation, I was asked to step in."

"Does that mean the appeal has already happened?"

"No, no, it's scheduled for this afternoon"

Before Harry could attempt to say something else to the Minister, two wizards came through the castle doors behind him. One was so ancient he appeared to be withering before their very eyes; the other was tall and strapping, with a thin back moustache.

From the insignia of their robes, Harry gathered that they were representatives of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, because tie very old wizard squinted toward Hagrid's cabin and said in a feeble voice, "Dear, dear, I'm getting too old for this... Two o'clock, isn't it, Fudge?"

The black-moustached man was fingering something in his belt; Harry looked and saw that he was running one broad thumb along the blade of a shining axe. Heading back to the Entrance Hall, Harry noticed how the man was already prepared for an execution.

"As long as Hagrid keeps his head this time, and argue, hi case properly, they can't possibly execute Buckbeak..."Hermione said, even though she was unsure of her own statement.

Later on that afternoon, following the final examination for Harry, that being of the subject of Divination, he saw Hermione sitting in the Great Hall, comforting the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, who was in tears.

"Buckbeak lost," Hermione told him, as he settled on the other side of Hagrid. "They're going to execute him at sunset. There is nothing else we can do about it."

"We've got to go," said Harry at once. "He can't just sit there on his own, waiting for the executioner!"

"No Harry, yer too young." Hagrid spluttered, his tablecloth of a handkerchief almost covering the Boy-Who-Lived. "Beaky…he…he's too much for you to worry 'bout."

"Hagrid. Buckbeak is…he…"

Harry hugged the friendly half-giant, hoping to help in the calming of him down. Little did Hagrid know that Hermione knew a way to save the Hippogriff…and a person who claimed to be Harry's godfather…

 _ **Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **30**_ _ **th**_ _ **June 1994**_

The door of Remus Lupin's office was open, his things still all over the place, the office being filled with paperwork and essays, despite the rumours that Remus was leaving.

"I saw you coming," said Lupin, smiling. He pointed to the parchment he had been poring over. It was the Marauder's Map.

"I see you're staying." Harry said, smiling at the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. "Beating a record aren't you?"

"I'm afraid it is," said Lupin. He started opening his desk drawers and started inspecting the contents of it, ensuring that there was enough stock ready for next year. "I almost succumbed to the curse, had it not been for Sirius making a midnight visit to a certain Potions Master, even though you had told him to go and find somewhere to hide.

"Sirius managed to tell Snivellus off as that greasy bastard, not to talk bad about my colleagues, erm…accidentally…erm let slip that I am a werewolf this morning at breakfast." Remus continued, "The only people who can sack me is Albus and the Board of Governors, and I can tell you that your Great-Aunt, Augusta Longbottom, is one of them, along with your Great-Uncle, Jeremy Brown."

"Brown…brown…as in related to Lavender Brown?" Harry asked, missing the bit about Augusta Longbottom.

"Yes, Miss Brown and Miss Parkinson are both second cousins of yours, along with young Neville." Remus said, smiling. "I think another person who would be happy to hear about Sirius being innocent is young Miss Bones. Had your godfather attended his wedding instead of hunting the rat, he would have been her uncle."

"But how can I be related to Parkinson and Lavender?"

"Harry, your mother was the daughter of two Squibs, one of whom was the youngest daughter of Giles and Daisy Brown. Her older sister, Violet, married Cygnus Parkinson, and her older brother, Jeremy, married my aunt, Nora Lupin." Remus said, noticing the teens face. "On your father's side, your grandfather Fleamont had a brother and a sister who were younger than him, Charlus potter, who married Sirius's great aunt, Dorea Black, and his sister Augusta, who married Charlie Longbottom. Both your father, Charlus Junior and Frank Longbottom were all born within a month of each other. Your father envied his cousin because he was like Charlus and Dorea, a pair of…a pair of Pureblood bigots. The only difference between them and your father…your father hid his true beliefs until he married Lily…"

- **The Boggarts Meaning** -

 _Coming Up in Chapter 03 - The Summer of Innocence…_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the **Harry Potter series.** Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** WIP / / / **Distribution** FFN, AO3, GryffindorTom Online / / / **Story ID** 214


	3. Chapter 3

Title **The** **Boggarts** **Meaning** / / / Rating **M**

Warnings **Features a character death, Ron bashing and some swearing. This story also contains some mentions of sex (both heterosexual and femslash) in some chapters…**

 _Contains text from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire…_

 _The concept of females having sex with each other for the expulsion of excess magic is based on the ideas of_ _ **Radaslab**_ _from their series_ _ **The Harem War**_ _and_ _ **Not Normal**_ _._

-The Boggarts Meaning-

 _Previously on The Boggarts Meaning…_

 _"Brown…brown…as in related to Lavender Brown?" Harry asked, missing the bit about Augusta Longbottom._

 _"Yes, Miss Brown and Miss Parkinson are both second cousins of yours, along with young Neville." Remus said, smiling. "I think another person who would be happy to hear about Sirius being innocent is young Miss Bones. Had your godfather attended his wedding instead of hunting the rat, he would have been her uncle."_

 _"But how can I be related to Parkinson and Lavender?"_

 _"Harry, your mother was the daughter of two Squibs, one of whom was the youngest daughter of Giles and Daisy Brown. Her older sister, Violet, married Cygnus Parkinson, and her older brother, Jeremy, married my aunt, Nora Lupin." Remus said, noticing the teens face. "On your father's side, your grandfather Fleamont had a brother and a sister who were younger than him, Charlus potter, who married Sirius's great aunt, Dorea Black, and his sister Augusta, who married Charlie Longbottom. Both your father, Charlus Junior and Frank Longbottom were all born within a month of each other. Your father envied his cousin because he was like Charlus and Dorea, a pair of…a pair of Pureblood bigots. The only difference between them and your father…your father hid his true beliefs until he married Lily…"_

 _ **Granger Residence, 4 Crooks Lane, Alcester, Warwickshire, England**_

 _ **12**_ _ **th**_ _ **August 1994**_

To say that Harry was in shock after the revelations that Remus Lupin had told him about his father, James Potter, would be an understatement. In fact, if Harry was honest, he was annoyed at the man who everyone says that he looks like, the fact that his father was in fact somebody who had secretly believed in the Pureblood Supremacy movement, even going as far as to fool the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, into allowing him to join the Order of the Phoenix, and forcing himself on a Muggleborn, subsequently having a child with her.

What caused a shock to the Boy-Who-Lived even more was how his mother, Lily Evans, had been turned from somebody who was in love with her first ever best friend in her Fifth Year, Severus Snape, her Fifth Year being a sexual relationship with the black haired Slytherin, to what would eventually be a sex slave to the future Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter.

One thing Harry had learnt, however, that despite the fact that he had not originally known that she was his cousin, Lavender remembered meeting him briefly when her mother had visited his Aunt Petunia, but despite both her grandparents petitioning the Headmaster to let their great nephew, who was the only member of the Wizarding world that was aware that Harry lived at Number 4, Privet Drive, they were unsuccessful, even with Lord Browns attempt to influence the Wizengamot into seeing things his way.

She, along with Hermione, had a plan for this summer, one where Harry would be able to escape the Dursley's by way of the Browns meeting him on the platform at King's Cross and confounding Vernon Dursley into forgetting to go to London.

Pansy, on the other hand, had given him a cold reception, despite the fact that they were second cousins. The simple reason for her cold reception was because she blamed him for her betrothed, Draco Malfoy, not getting his way when it came to the execution of the hippogriff Buckbeak and the sacking of the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor.

It had taken the efforts of both Harry (following a chat with Neville Longbottom, who had noticed Harry and Hermione were not talking to Ron) and Lavender to get an answer from Pansy, especially as she, as the future Heiress of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Parkinson, had the power to agree to the plan that they were making, a plan to bring back The Alliance.

Harry had learned from Neville and Lavender that The Alliance being a group of Wizarding families within the Wizengamot, formed of the Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Potter, Longbottom, Abbott and MacMillan, working in concert with the Ancient and Noble Houses of Weasley, Brown, Shacklebolt and Bones and outside the Wizengamot with the Minor Houses of Tonks, Patil and Li. Out of that group, only the Potters and the three Minor Houses were not members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight,

Harry would tell that despite the outward look of her enjoying being in a betrothal with Malfoy, he could tell that Pansy was in a living hell. The thing is that he was in love with Hermione, otherwise he would have offered to help by saving Pansy from the life of being with the spawn of a Death Eater.

As luck would have it, Harry had found out that her father was a member of the 'Imperius Club', yet at the same time also being one of the members of the Wizengamot, only getting his riches due to being related to the Brown and Shacklebolt families through marriage.

A few days after the end of term, Harry had managed to speak to Lord Parkinson, using the annual Brown family meeting (a family that Harry was part of through his maternal grandmother) as a stage to make negotiations for a way to void Pansy's betrothal to Malfoy, a negotiation which he had managed to succeed, mainly by reminding Parkinson of the potential influence the Potters had.

The only problem with his stay at his relatives was that for some reason he had been banned from visiting certain rooms within the house, the bedrooms of Lavender and her two years' older sister, Ravenclaw Prefect Lilac Brown, along with the ladies Drawing Room.

Harry had noticed, however, on one occasion that he had walked past the bedroom of Lavender's, the door being open, that Lavender was receiving Oral Sex from her sister, whilst at the same time performing the same act upon Lilac Brown.

To say that Harry was confused as to why they were doing that was an understatement. It had taken an explanation from Lavender, who was completely red-faced at the time, having been discovered partaking in the act, for Harry to understand why the sisters were giving each other Oral.

"It's all to do with a witch's magic. Because we have periods once a month, from the first period onwards they cause our magic to become unstable, meaning that we need to have at least two orgasms a day in order to stabilise our magic." Lavender explained to her cousin, the redness on his face reminding her of the hair of the Weasley twins. "There is two ways that we can do that without men having sight of it, one of which is by having oral, or normal sex, with a woman, and the other option is to masturbate. The thing is that because of us having to do it, the witches dorms at Hogwarts having the enchantment to stop the boys from getting up there to see us at it. The only exception to the rule is when the female in question that they want see has had permission from the oldest Prefect in the House, or in the case of that House having the Head Girl, she would be the one to give permission."

Harry could see himself in the refection of his bedroom window going red at the thought of Hermione having to masturbate to rid herself of excess magic. "But surely people at the age of your mother don't have to do it?"

"They don't have to rid themselves of the excess energy because of one simple reason, that being that giving birth stops the excess magic. Anyway, as I was saying, usually the older boys, as in those who are Fifth Years or more, seem to be the ones who help the ladies. The only House that the boys seem to have to start younger than that is Slytherin, who have a habit of having sex with girls as young as the end of Third Year! Pansy told me a few months before the end of the year that Malfoy was trying to get her in his bed."

It had been four weeks since the talk that Harry had with Lavender and he had been invited to the Granger's to spend a couple of weeks, prior to returning to the Brown's for the Quidditch World Cup and he had to admit that he was unable to see Hermione in the same way as what he had before the end of term.

He had met the older Grangers, Adam and Sophie Granger, and was pleasantly surprised about how Sophie had remembered him as a child, how she had been friends with his mother and admitted that she had notice that Lily had changed significantly between being a child and after Hogwarts.

When Harry told the older Granger female about what he had found out about how his father had treated Sophie Granger's friend, he watched as she broke down in tears, the shock of what had happened to Lily Evans making her wonder what would have happened had life had been different.

Reading the next year's text books, Harry saw how she had strategically placed a blanket over herself, and that he could see that her hand was moving in a slightly noticeable manner, and that she had started to squirm all over the place.

Eventually Hermione had finished and had lifted herself up slightly, obviously to adjust herself. It was then that Harry realised that he had certainly lost some of his innocence over the summer...

-The Boggarts Meaning-

 _Coming Up in Chapter 04 - The Autumn of Love…_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** WIP / / / **Distribution** FFN, AO3 / / / **Story** ID 214


	4. Chapter 4

Title **The** **Boggarts** **Meaning** / / / Rating **M**

Warnings **Features a character death, Ron bashing and some swearing. This story also contains some mentions of sex (both heterosexual and femslash) in some chapters…**

 _Contains text from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire…_

 _After thinking about it, in this chapter, I decided to change one of the official pairings...you will find out in this chapter which pairing it is…._

-The Boggarts Meaning-

 _Previously on The Boggarts Meaning…_

 _" Anyway, as I was saying, usually the older boys, as in those who are Fifth Years or more, seem to be the ones who help the ladies. The only House that the boys seem to have to start younger than that is Slytherin, who have a habit of having sex with girls as young as the end of Third Year! Pansy told me a few months before the end of the year that Malfoy was trying to get her in his bed."_

 _It had been four weeks since the talk that Harry had with Lavender and he had been invited to the Granger's to spend a couple of weeks, prior to returning to the Brown's for the Quidditch World Cup and he had to admit that he was unable to see Hermione in the same way as what he had before the end of term._

 _He had met the older Grangers, Adam and Sophie Granger, and was pleasantly surprised about how Sophie had remembered him as a child, how she had been friends with his mother and admitted that she had notice that Lily had changed significantly between being a child and after Hogwarts._

 _When Harry told the older Granger female about what he had found out about how his father had treated Sophie Granger's friend, he watched as she broke down in tears, the shock of what had happened to Lily Evans making her wonder what would have happened had life had been different._

 _Reading the next year's text books, Harry saw how she had strategically placed a blanket over herself, and that he could see that her hand was moving in a slightly noticeable manner, and that she had started to squirm all over the place._

 _Eventually Hermione had finished and had lifted herself up slightly, obviously to adjust herself. It was then that Harry realised that he had certainly lost some of his innocence over the summer..._

 _ **The Great Hall, Ground Floor, Entrance Wing, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **31**_ _ **st**_ _ **October 1994**_

Harry was sitting in the Great Hall, hand in hand with Hermione, listening to the Headmaster announce who was to become the Hogwarts TriWizard Champion. Suddenly there was a large number of groans when Cassius Warrington was announced as the Champion.

Despite the boos from the crowd, Harry stood up, Hermione following, and applauded the young man, not seeing the smile whilst they were doing it from their Head of House, Minerva McGonagall, who was muttering under her breath an award of points to Gryffindor.

"What are you doing clapping for that slimy snake?" He heard Ron say to him from a few places down the table, the red head getting up to confront him. "You are betraying your House by supporting a Death Eater wannabe."

"Shut up Ronald." Harry said, smiling. "He is a Hogwarts student, just like I am, just like you are. Don't you remember what happened at the Quidditch World Cup?"

"That was because of some slimy snake!" Ron shouted back, not noticing that several other students in the Great Hall was applauding the newly declared Champion as well "Anyway, if I remember right, didn't you already disgrace your parent's memories by getting yourself betrothed to a Death Eater spawn?"

"Ronald. How dare you!" Hermione said, "It was either getting betrothed to Pansy, or leaving her to a fate that was worse…being forced to submit to the ferret!

Eventually the applause died down, everyone was sitting down at their seats ready to listen to the Headmaster and his speech, but despite what he had said to Hermione, he knew that something was going to happen… and he suspected the new History of Magic Professor…

 _ **The Great Hall, Ground Floor, Entrance Wing, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **1**_ _ **st**_ _ **September 1994**_

Harry looked up at the staff table. There seemed to be rather less empty seats there than usual, especially with a returning Remus Lupin sitting at the staff table. Hagrid, Harry assumed, was probably fighting his way across the lake with the first years; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but there was another empty chair too, and Harry couldn't think who else was missing.

"Maybe Binns has been sacked?" Hermione said to him, noting the confusion on his face. "Or even exorcized?"

"I presume so." Harry said, smiling. Suddenly he felt someone pass him and touching him. Looking around, he saw Pansy had passed him, placing a note in his pocket.

" _Harry,_

 _Malfoy has threatened to have you entered in the Tournament that the Headmaster is going to announce. He says that the Dark Lord is going to have one of his servants do the deed._

 _We need to meet later. Bring Granger with you to the abandoned Classroom opposite the Transfiguration Classroom on the Fifth Floor._

 _If the Weasel starts, I will sort him out for you._

 _Pansy"_

Harry had to smile about how his betrothed, thanks to Lord Parkinson forcing the change in betrothal contract on him, even with the attempts by Lord Brown to stop it happening, was showing the cunning that Slytherin House was known for.

"Oh, hurry up," Harry could hear Ron moan from halfway down the table, having been forced by his mother to sit next to the twins and his sister as a punishment for what happened at the World Cup, Ron having lost his wand to a Death Eater, the subsequent confiscation of it by Ministry staff causing him to have to buy a new one. "I could eat a hippogriff."

"Greedy pig" Harry said under his breath, knowing that Ron would not be able to hear him.

Eventually the door opened, Professor McGonagall doing her duty by leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall. If Harry and Hermione had been wet on their entrance to the school, it was nothing to how these first years looked.

In Harry's mind, it seems like they had swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school, all of them except the smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was wrapped in what Harry recognized as Hagrid's moleskin overcoat.

Harry could tell that the coat that the young boy was wearing was so big for him, so big that it looked as though he were draped in a furry black circus tent. His small face protruded from over the collar, looking almost painfully excited. When he had lined up with his terrified-looking peers, he caught Colin Creevey's eye, gave a double thumbs-up and smiled.

'Oh bollocks…another Creevey!' Harry thought, the dread showing on his face.

Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty, patched wizard's hat. The first years stared at it, as did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song, one that he had never heard about before.

The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished.

"That's not the song it sang when it Sorted us," said Harry, clapping along with everyone else.

"Sings a different one every year," Hermione said, remembering her reading of Hogwarts: A History. Harry could see that she was about to start going into lecture mode so he kissed her, his lips melting into hers, much to the happiness of Gryffindor House, knowing that Hermione had a habit of spouting out facts as if it were to be made illegal!

Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet, smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.

"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuck in."

"Hear, hear!" Harry said, smiling as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes. As the Gryffindors were finishing eating, a clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings.

"Treacle tart, Hermione!" Harry said, smiling as he grabbed a portion of it, Hermione grabbing some gateaux. "I love it as much as I love you!"

When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling

the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must

once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

Dumbledore tried to point at the Weasley twins without looking as if he wasn't, but everyone saw it and laughed. The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched as he continued with his announcements. "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year. This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy — but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts as we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the TriWizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year.

"The TriWizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago, mainly as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities — until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the TriWizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

Everyone started turning to their neighbours and conversing with them, missing the conditions that the Headmaster was laying down about the Goblet and having to be of age, and then the rules of the Tournament, subsequently followed by the announcement of the new History of Magic Professor, followed by the reappointment of Professor Lupin for Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Eventually the meal came to an end, Harry and Hermione leaving the line of Gryffindors to head to the meeting with Pansy, a meeting which had changed the whole year…but not before he had pulled a prank on Draco Malfoy first…

 _ **The Great Hall, Ground Floor, Entrance Wing, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland**_

 _ **31**_ _ **st**_ _ **October 1994**_

As Harry was pulled out of his thoughts, remembering how he had humiliated Malfoy after leaving the Great Hall by vanishing his clothes, the Slytherin having had not opted to wear undergarments, he saw that the fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand, and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out the name that was on the parchment…

" _Harry Potter_."

What happened next caused people to be shocked…

-The Boggarts Meaning-

 _Did you see how a few small changes to canon can cause a large amount of chaos…. For example, Pansy being saved from Draco Malfoy, or Harry finding out he has family still out there… Or Harry persuading Remus Lupin to keep the job of Defence Against the Dark Arts job…_

 _Anyway, Coming Up in Chapter 05 -_ _ **The Consequences of the Day After…**_

 **Disclaimer** I don't own the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only. Any text used from the Harry Potter series is used under the fair use allowances of various copyright acts

 **Reviews** Please remember to review this story as it helps improve the stories that I write for you guys. It's the only payment, along with adding to community's and favourites that I get for writing these, and I admit I enjoy that payment.

 **Type** Multi Chapter / / / **Status** WIP / / / **Distribution** FFN, AO3 / / / **Story** ID 214


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